Rebel Nation Blog

I was recently asked by a Twitter buddy how I can be thinking that we are winning with shit being so bad for women. I get it – things aren’t so good. Kavanaugh. Roe. Health Care. Separation of Children. Death of the Environment. I could go on and on and on…but I won’t because I sort of feel like the patriarchy is on fire and it is running in circles trying to put itself out. I think the resistance is winning and that is why shit feels like it is getting worse. Here are 5 ways

Things many of us who do not support the current administration hear in 2018… You’re too smart to be a liberal. #ThankYou Someone told me I am going to Hell because I’m pro-choice. I laughed at him and reminded him that he doesn’t get to decide. #GodsJob A man told me he could tell I was young by the words I used. I told him I was in my fifties and he told me I wasn’t! #Mansplaining After I said, look at Bernie’s record, a guy says “what, he votes just like Rand Paul” #lol So

About a month ago I was in Washington DC at the American Women’s Party Conference. When I was there I got to connect with some of the greatest minds in activism. I learned a lot, they learned from me. I thought we would all move on with our business cards in hand and just chalk it up to another glorious networking event. But something happened at that meeting I never expected. Literally days later I needed the connections I made because my own family was being impacted by eve

Do you engage in moments of radical compassion towards your body and soul? Do you give yourself the space of grace? Do you engage with people in your lives differently in 2018 than you did 1 year, 5 years, 10 years ago? Do you find yourself stepping out, taking risks, being vulnerable? OR Are you stuck in the overwhelm? Are you tired of the buzzy, crazy chatter? Are you sitting deep in the knowledge that you are a person of calling & purpose but you just don’t know what

Last night I broke my cardinal rule. I picked a fight with a total stranger on Facebook. It made me cry all night and all morning. It took me all the way until this afternoon to gather my wits and apologize publicly, which I did. Yes, the impenetrable Dr. Bird has a heart and cries…a lot. She also has the grace and wisdom to know when she is being combative. In order to process this I called all of my posse. I needed wisdom from my best girls. My conversation with my friend

My husband is a veteran. He and I are gun owning Democrats who believe deeply in American government. We attend church with our kids on most Sundays and he is using his GI Bill to finish his college education. I did what my grandparents taught me to do and worked hard to get where I am today. We always pay our taxes. I was raised in Utah surrounded by true conservatives. Conservatives who do not believe in being bullies and beating up on queers and women. They believed in fis

I have been reflecting back at where I was at this time last year. My sadness was palpable. I was worried about what would happen under the current administration. It is worse than I thought it would be. In today’s Monday Mayhem, I take a look back at my words. 11/19/2016 I am broken, I am on fire. I am shriveled, I am revolutionary. I am devastated, triggered, charred, broken, silenced, shamed, saddened, heartbroken, shocked, disgusted, scared, horrified, traumatized. I am d

I have a tattoo on my back that says “forward out of darkness, forward into light”. I got it after Utah state legislator LaVar Christensen killed the first bill I ever wrote in 2004. It is part of the motto the suffragettes sewed on their banners when they marched for the 19th Amendment. National Woman’s Party collection My tattoo reminds me that oftentimes, especially when it comes to policy, things don’t often come easily but with persistence they do come. Let me say that a

Ohhhh y’all, 2017 is proving to be the year that the women stopped giving all the fucks. This weeks elections turned out to be a real doosey and proved the #resistance is alive and well, and it has NOTHING to do with old white guys and the status quo. Let’s just talk about this for one second…the brogressives (and even some women) think that we need to be focusing on white men to win elections for the Democrats. Hell some of those folks even think that we need to be courting

Last week I posted a blog about the sexual harassment that has occurred at the USC School of Social Work. One of my former professors has been found guilty of sexual harassment involving several colleagues that I respect and admire. His colleagues have spoken out. The MSW students have spoken out. And the PhD students have issued a response. Three groups critical to the success of the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social work have spoken begging for action that will prote

Today is the last class that I am teaching at the California State University, San Bernadino School of Social Work. I dedicate this blog to my 28 amazing students who have been personally and professionally affected by the outcome of the 2016 election. They are fierce and they are woke and they are engaging in activism like I have never seen in a group of social workers. This is what I have learned from the CSUSB MSW Class of 2018: I have learned that I don’t know everything